A Lesson in Trust
by JasonMorganfan87
Summary: Takes place in  season 2. Tony is still treating Tim like he doesn't belong. What will it take for him to realize that Tim is just as capable as him. Will he finally learn to trust his partner when he realizes that it may be the only way to stay alive?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or any of its characters**

**A Lesson in Trust **

Tim McGee walked through the bullpen of NCIS. He passed his coworkers, Special Agent Caitlin Todd and Anthony DiNozzo.

"Morning, Probie," Tony said.

"G…Good morning, Tony," Tim stuttered. He hated it when he talked like that, but he just couldn't help it. He got so nervous when he was around his new team. Today he was even more nervous and jumpy. He didn't know why, but he kept getting the feeling that he was being followed.

"So how was your weekend? Pick up any chicks," Tony asked.

"No," Tim said.

"Oh, so you swing the other way," Tony teased.

Tim's eyes widened. "What, no!"

"Tony, leave him alone. He's not used to your 'unique' sense of humor. You know, the kind where it's not funny," Kate said.

Tim blushed in embarrassment and kicked himself for not realizing Tony was joking.

"Hey, I'm funny," Tony said defensively.

"No, you're not," Gibbs said as he passed them.

"No, I'm not, Boss," Tony agreed.

"We've got a dead marine at Quantico. Grab your gear," Gibbs said as got his things.

The others all grabbed their bags and followed their boss to the elevator.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

About twenty minutes later, the team entered a house on the base at Quantico. They walked into the living room, where the body of a marine laid. Ducky immediately got to work. "He's still warm. I'd say time of death an hour ago tops."

"Somebody found him that quickly?" Tony asked surprised.

Ducky held up a phone that was nearby. "It looks like he was able to get a call off to someone before he perished."

"He could still be on base. Check the area," Gibbs ordered.

All three agents started to go when Gibbs called after them. "Not you, McGee. You photograph the scene.

"Yeah, Probie, this is a big boy job. You stay here where it's safe," Tony said patronizingly.

Tim glared at Tony's back. He hated the way Tony treated him. He treated him like he was some little kid that couldn't do his job. They all did. It made him so angry sometimes. Just because he was new didn't mean he couldn't handle it just as well as they could.

"McGee!" Gibbs yelled.

Tim finally pulled out of thoughts. "Sorry, Boss," Tim said before he pulled out his camera and started taking pictures.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile, Tony and Kate were checking the grounds. "You don't have to be such an ass, you know?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't say anything," Tony said. He knew sometimes he said things to piss Kate off, but he hadn't even really said anything to her since they left the office.

"I'm taking about inside the house with McGee. You didn't need to patronize him like that," Kate said. She knew the way Tony talked to McGee had to bug him sometimes. She knew if it was her, she'd have punched him by now.

"Hey, I was just stating facts. He's a rookie. He's not ready to be chasing down suspects. Personally, I don't think he'll ever be ready for that," Tony said. In his opinion, McGee shouldn't even be a field agent. He was too meek and soft for that. He wasn't cut out for the action. He belonged behind his computer.

"Why, because he's a computer geek?" Kate asked.

"To put it plainly, yes," Tony said

Kate shook her head in frustration. "You're an ass."

"Come on, you honestly think someone like him can make it as a field agent?"

"I think he at least deserves the chance. And his partner shouldn't be discouraging him," Kate lectured.

Tony sighed. "Look, I call them like I see them. As a computer geek, he's great, but as a field agent? We might as well start sending civilians out after the bad guys."

"Okay, I'm going back to the crime scene before I punch you," Kate said irritably before heading back to the house.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

That night, Tim was walking towards his apartment. He'd taken the bus to work that day because his car was in the shop. He was still quite frustrated from work. It was yet another day of Tony belittling what he could do and telling him what he couldn't do. Sometimes he wondered why he didn't just quit. Was working for NCIS really worth all this?

Tim was pulled from his thought when he thought he heard a noise. He turned around and saw nothing. That seemed to keep happening lately. He kept getting the feeling that he was being followed.

Tim shrugged the feeling off and continued to walk. He was probably just being paranoid because of his chosen profession. After all, why would someone stalk him?

He came up to his building and stopped to pull out his keys. Just as he got his keys ready, he felt something hit the back of his head.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Tony entered his apartment late that night. He'd gone to the bar first to have a drink and to try to put the moves on the ladies. When he got shot down, he decided to go home.

After getting inside, he placed his gun and badge on the table in his living room. Then he went into the kitchen to grab something to eat.

Tony's eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of a guy in a mask in his kitchen. Before he could do anything though, the man attacked him. He punched him in the face, sending him to the ground.

Tony tried to get up and fight back, but soon found an arm around his neck, crushing his windpipe. He tried to fight away from the man, but he was a bit drunk, so it was kind of hard. All he managed to do was knock a few things down and lose his strength faster. Soon he found that his vision was cloudy and it was getting harder to breath. He began to feel dizzy and then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Kate walked out of the elevator and into the bullpen of NCIS. She stopped abruptly when got to the area where she and her colleagues worked. There was no sign of any of them. There chairs were vacant and it didn't look their area's had been touched since the night before.

After a few seconds, Kate headed back to the elevator. She stopped as the doors opened and Gibbs appeared.

"Going somewhere, Kate?" Gibbs asked.

"Gibbs, good you're here. I was beginning to think we had the day off and somebody forgot to tell me," Kate said.

"What are you taking about?" Gibbs asked.

Kate turned and pointed to their work area. "No one's here, but you and me. There's no sign of Tony or McGee.

"What do you mean they're not here?" Gibbs asked irritably before walking past her. Sure enough, he found no sign of McGee or DiNozzo. "Where the hell are they?"

"I'll try to get a hold of Tony. He's probably hung over or something," Kate said. Inwardly though, she couldn't help but be worried. It would be one thing if it were just Tony that was missing. That was expected. Tony had been late before. But Tony and McGee both gone left cause for concern.

While Kate called Tony, Gibbs decided to check his email, which was something he never did. He decided to see if one of them had been stupid enough to leave him a message instead of calling in. He checked really quickly and found nothing.

Kate hung up the phone after getting no morning. "There's no answer, Gibbs."

"Try McGee," he said.

"I already did. Both their phones are off," Kate said.

Alarm bells went off in Gibbs' head. Something wasn't right. Two of his agents were missing and neither of them were picking up their phones. Something was wrong. "Let's go. We're checking their apartments."

Kate immediately grabbed her things and followed Gibbs.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

About an hour later, Gibbs and Kate made it to Tony's apartment. They'd already gone to McGee's apartment and found nothing. It didn't appear that there was a break in or any sign of a struggle. Tony's apartment was a different story.

Once they, got into the apartment, Gibbs and Kate went into the kitchen and found it to be a disaster area. There was broken glass everywhere and there was clutter all around the floor. "Gibbs."

"I know, Kate. I know," Gibbs said. He knew exactly what she was thinking because he was thinking the same thing. Tony and McGee were in trouble."

"Who would do this? And where is McGee?" Kate asked.

"He's wherever Tony is," Gibbs said. He was positive that Wherever his agents were, they were together. There was no way they'd both disappeared the same day. Even if he believed in coincidences he wouldn't have believed that.

"Yeah, but where is that? And who would attack them like this?" Kate asked. She couldn't think of anyone who would want to hurt both Tony and McGee. She could see a woman or a jealous boyfriend or husband wanting to hurt Tony, but no one that would hurt McGee. And certainly no one that would hurt them both.

"Those are questions we're going to have to find the answers to. Put some gloves on, we need to process the scene."

Kate immediately did what she was told and started getting to work.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim groaned as he began to wake up. His head felt like it was going to explode. He opened his eyes and found that it was pretty much pitch black. He couldn't see a thing. He then tried to move his arms, but he found that they were both bound to his sides, probably with handcuffs or shackles.

"Is Someone else there?"

Tim raised his head at the familiar voice. He was pretty sure he knew who it belonged to, but it couldn't be, could it? "Tony?"

"McGee?" Tony asked in shock. He wasn't expecting to hear the voice of his newest colleague. "Where are you?"

"I…I don't know. I can't see anything. I'm chained to wall I think," Tim said. He was propped up against something hard and it felt like concrete. It had to be a wall. "Where the hell are we?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Probie. The last thing I remember is someone choking me in my apartment. You?" Tony asked.

Tim groaned once more. His head really hurt. "I was walking to my apartment. I was about to go into my apartment. That's all I remember. Someone must have hit me over the head."

"Oh, this is bad," Tony said. He wasn't sure what was going on, but if someone had gone to all this trouble to kidnap both of them, it was really, really not good.

"Thank you for that, Tony. I hadn't realized," Tim said sarcastically.

Tony was a bit taken aback by the comment. That was the first time he'd ever heard the kid be anything but agreeable. He chalked it up to the situation though. "Alright, did you see anyone when you were taken?"

"No, I told you, I don't even remember being taken. And judging from the searing pain to the back of my head, I'm guessing I was hit from behind. Who would do this to us. I mean, I can kind of see someone wanting to hurt you."

"Hey!" Tony said defensively.

"I'm just saying, I don't have a lot of enemies," Tim said.

"It's got to be someone we put away or something," Tony said. That was the only possibility he could think of. Why else would someone take both of them?

"Then why aren't the others here?"

"I don't know," Tony admitted. He honestly didn't know what to think right now. None of this made any sense.

Tim soon heard the sound of a door unlock. "I think we're about to find out."


	3. Chapter 3

Tony and Tim listened as the door began to unlock. "Just stay quiet, Probie. Let me do all the talking," Tony said.

"I do that and we're as good as dead," Tim mumbled to himself.

Just then, the door opened, revealing a bright light, which temporarily blinded Tony and Tim. Then the door was closed and another light was turned on above their heads.

Tony gasped as he saw the man in front of him. He'd recognized him immediately. "You."

"Anthony DiNozzo. How's NCIS treating you?" the man asked, smirking evilly.

"Wait, you know this guy? Who is he?" Tim asked.

"Victor Berwick. He's my ex-partner," Tony said, still in shock. Berwick was partner in Baltimore for about six months before he quit. Tony never would have pegged him for something like this. He was a lot like McGee. He was timid and clumsy. Definitely not someone that belonged in Law Enforcement.

"You're a cop?" Tim asked in shock. He couldn't believe a cop would do something like this. He knew there were cops out there who were dirty, but he'd never come into contact with one that would actually kidnap federal agents.

"I _was_ a cop. DiNozzo ruined that," Berwick said.

"I didn't make you quit," Tony said. He wasn't going to take responsibility for this guy's problems.

"You made it impossible for me to stay. All those jokes at my expense. I believe you said I was a small fish trying to swim in an adult pond. And don't think I never heard the crap you said when my back was turned. I heard you tell people that I would never amount to anything," Berwick said angrily.

Tim looked away. It was like it could've been him that was talking. Tony treated him a lot like that. He was constantly making jokes at his expense and telling him how inadequate he was compared to the rest of them.

Berwick turned his eyes to Tim. "You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

"No," Tim denied. He didn't want to admit having anything to do with this freak. But he did. Tony had treated him a lot like he'd treated Berwick.

"Sure you do. I've been doing some research. He treats you like vermin. I was there earlier today when he told you that searching the area of Quantico was a 'big boy job'," Berwick said.

Tim shifted uncomfortable. He really didn't like where this was going. He didn't like the very real comparison to Berwick and himself. They weren't alike. He refused accept that. He wouldn't do something like this to anyone.

"You son of a bitch. You killed that marine," Tony realized. It wasn't a big leap considering that the man had been there. "Why? You didn't kill him to get to me."

"I wanted to see you in action. I wanted to see for myself how you treated him. I knew it wasn't well. I'd done my research. But I'd never actually seen it with my own eyes," Berwick explained.

"So you killed a guy just to see how Tony treated me?" Tim asked in horror. He couldn't believe someone could go this far just to get revenge on someone who acted like a jerk. Tony did the same thing to him and he couldn't imagine killing people just to get revenge.

"Yes," he said matter-of-factly. "I watched you both intently. It was clear that he has no respect for you. He called you a computer geek who has no business out in the field. He said that they'd be better off sending civilians out," Berwick said.

Tim felt his blood boil. Who the hell did Tony think he was? What did he know about what Tim could do? He didn't know him. He had no right to make assumptions like that.

Berwick smiled. "You're angry. You wanna hurt him."

"No," Tim said. He was angry, but not enough to hurt anyone over it.

"Don't lie. I can see in your eyes. You're furious inside. Don't pretend you're not. You can't fool me. We're alike."

Tim shook his head. "I'm nothing like you. Yeah, I'm angry that Tony can't seem to find an ounce of respect for me, but not so much that I'm going to kill over it."

"You might change your mind when he ruins your life," Berwick retorted.

"So that's what this is about, revenge. Revenge for something that happened almost seven years ago. Let go, man. You had no business on the force. This proves it," Tony said.

Berwick went over and started angrily kicking Tony in the stomach.

Tim scrambled to his feet and tried to go help Tony, but he was soon reminded that he was chained to a wall and couldn't do anything. "Hey, stop! Leave him alone!"

Berwick stopped after about five kicks and turned to Tim surprised. "You actually want to stand up for him?"

"He's my partner," Tim said simply.

"He treats you like crap. You've gotta want to hurt him," he said.

Tim shook his head. "He's my partner. He may be an ass and I often find myself wanting to punch him, but I'm not like you. I don't have a need to hurt him like you seem to.

"Neither did I until he destroyed my life."

"You destroyed yourself," Tony said as tried to breathe through the pain he was feeling.

"Tony, shut up!" Tim ordered. He really didn't understand why Tony always said the stupidest things at the absolute worst times.

Berwick turned to Tim. "Amazing. He treats you like trash and still you try to protect him. I wonder how long it'll last."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tim asked. He was getting a real bad feeling about this. He was starting to think Berwick had kidnapped him to turn him into the creep that he was.

"It means that his life is in your hands now," Berwick said. And before either Tony or Tim had the chance to question the meaning of that, he was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Gibbs walked into the bullpen after getting coffee and immediately went over to Kate, who had stacks and stacks of files on her desk. "What do you got for me, Kate?"

"Mountains and mountains of suspects. A lot of people hate us, Gibbs," Kate said.

"But who would hate both Tony and McGee specifically?" Gibbs asked. It had to be someone who had a particular grudge against both men. Why else take them both?

"The list of people for Tony is too high to count," Kate quipped.

"But not for McGee. He's only been here a couple of months and he hasn't been all that active on most cases. He's the key. Look at cases that he's worked with DiNozzo in the last two months," Gibbs said.

"I already did. There's nothing that can help us," Kate said.

"There's gotta be something, Kate. Keep looking!"

"Gibbs! Gibbs!"

Gibbs turned around to see Abby headed their way. "Abbs, what is it? You got something for me?"

"Do I ever. I ran a check on the fingerprints you found at Tony' place. I got a match. Well, not a match to a specific person, but a match to a match," Abby said.

"Abby, I know that makes sense to you, but could you simplify it please?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, sorry. The same person that kidnapped Tony and Timmy also killed that marine at Quantico," Abby explained.

"Are you sure, Abbs?" Gibbs asked.

"Positive. The guy's finger prints were at both crime scenes," Abby said.

"So who is he?" Kate asked.

"I don't know yet. He's not in the system. But I _will_ find him," Abby said firmly. She didn't care what she had to do. She was going to find out who this guy was so that Gibbs could bring Tony and Tim home.

"Go," Gibbs said.

Abby nodded and immediately raced back to the elevator.

"So you think that maybe this was a distraction?" Kate asked. It was really the only thing that made sense. Their killer must have kidnapped Tony and McGee to distract them.

"No," Gibbs said. In his gut, he knew that that wasn't it. There was some other reason for this. He felt it.

"But Gibbs he-"

"He wouldn't have taken them both. One would've gotten just as much attention as two. Besides, that would just lead us right to him. Something else is going on here," Gibbs said.

"Like what?" Kate asked.

'_That's the million dollar question,' _thought Gibbs. "Not sure. Start going through their personnel files. Maybe they have something in common we don't know about."

Kate nodded and immediately left to go get the files.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tony glanced over at McGee who was completely silent. He hadn't said a word since Berwick left. Tony knew he was probably fuming because of what Berwick told him. "Aren't you gonna say anything?"

"What do you want me to say," Tim asked without even looking at the man.

"Aren't you going to ask me if what Berwick told you about what I may have said about you is true?" Tony asked.

"I already know it's true. Why would I ask a question I already know the answer to?" Tim asked.

"So let's hear it. Come on, I know you're thinking about it. Thinking about how horrible I am to you and how I was to Berwick."

"Oh yes, because the world revolves around you, doesn't it?" Tim asked sarcastically. "I must be thinking about you, right? Because God forbid I be thinking about something else, like finding a way out of here."

"I'll get us out of here, McGee," Tony said.

"Yeah, sure you will. Because you're not handcuffed to a wall or anything," Tim said dryly.

"What's up with you? When did you become so sarcastic and snippy? You're usually all polite, saying 'yes sir' or 'no sir'," Tony said.

"It's called respect, something you wouldn't know anything about," Tim said bitterly. He'd tried not to let his anger for Tony show, but it wasn't working. He was angry. He couldn't pretend he wasn't.

"Watch it, McGee. I'm still the superior agent," Tony said.

"I don't know if you noticed, but we're not at the office anymore. Right now all you are is a thorn in my side and the reason I'm handcuffed to a wall," Tim said.

"You're blaming me for this?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"You're damn right I am!"

"Oh, so you're buying everything Berwick said, huh?" Tony asked.

"No! You didn't make Berwick who he is. He made his own choices. But Berwick brought us both here because you couldn't find it in you to treat the people you work with like human beings. I wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for you," Tim said.

"You would be nowhere if it weren't for me. I'm the only reason you're as good as you are at the job, which isn't very good by the way," Tony said.

"There it goes again. Your ego just grew another foot. You really do think you're God's gift to a government agency, don't you?" Tim asked.

Tony smiled. "If the shoe fits."

"You self-righteous, egotistical…" Tim trailed off as he tried to calm down. He couldn't do this right now. He refused to do this. He would not be like Berwick. He wouldn't. He wouldn't let Tony take him to that place. He had to rise above him. "You know what, I'm done. You are what you are. I can't change that. Let's just make a deal right now. We don't talk to each other unless we have to."

"Fine with me, Probie," Tony said. He then turned and tried to get himself into a position that would all him to sleep for a little bit.


	5. Chapter 5

Tim was woken up by the sound of the door open. He immediately became very alert and awake. Tony did the same.

Berwick came into the room and walked over to Tim. "Stand up please."

Tim looked at the man for minute before slowly standing up. Berwick then undid his handcuffs. Before Tim knew it though, they were replaced in front of him around his wrists.

"What are you doing, Berwick?" Tony asked. He didn't know what his former partner was planning to do with McGee, but he knew it couldn't be good.

"Wouldn't you like to know, DiNozzo," Berwick said smugly before turning back to Tim. "Let's go."

Tim had no choice but to allow himself to be led out of the room. He looked around the place quickly. It was much smaller than he imagined. It was almost cabin-like. He wondered if they were in the woods. If they were, even if they managed to get away from this freak, they were screwed.

Berwick led Tim into the tiny kitchen and over to the table. "Have a seat."

Tim sat down and regarded the man cautiously. What was this psycho's game? He was being way too nice to him. What exactly did he want?

Berwick uncuffed one of Tim's hands and cuffed his other one to the chair. He then grabbed two glasses and a bottle of Vodka from a cabinet before going to sit down across from Tim. "I'm really sorry about this. You shouldn't have to be stuck with DiNozzo any longer than necessary," he said as he poured Tim a drink.

Tim finally realized what the bastard was trying to do. He was trying to turn him against Tony. He wanted an ally in his quest for revenge. "You really think you can turn me against Tony."

"I don't think I'm gonna have to. DiNozzo's doing a good enough job of that on his own, isn't he?" Berwick asked as he took a sip of his drink.

"Tony's my partner. I'm not gonna turn against him," Tim said firmly.

Berwick laughed. "All this loyalty for DiNozzo when he has none for you."

"What is it that you want?" Tim asked. He already knew the answer, but he was curious as to what Berwick would say.

"To open your eyes. DiNozzo will destroy you if you let him," Berwick warned.

"So you're looking out for me. Why doesn't that reassure me. Oh yeah. Because you kidnapped me!"

"Fair enough. It doesn't make me any less right though. Anthony DiNozzo is like a leech. He will suck the life right out of you. He will pick at you until there's nothing left," Berwick said.

Tim leaned forward a bit. "You can't turn me against Tony. You can't turn me into you."

Berwick just smirked. "I don't have to. As I said before, DiNozzo will do that all on his own. Hell he's already started to. He's an egotistical little jackass. He thinks that people like us would be nothing without him."

Tim looked away. He couldn't help it. Berwick's words were starting to affect him, mostly because he'd heard words just like that from Tony. He knew that was what Tony thought and made him want to punch him.

Berwick smiled in satisfaction when he saw the uncomfortable look on Tim's face. "That look there, that's understanding. You get it. You know how thinks of you and it pisses you off, doesn't? Don't deny it. I know it does."

"Yeah, it does," Tim admitted. Berwick was right about that. Tony's words and sanctimonious attitude towards him often made him want punch something. "But not so much that I want to kill him over it."

"Give him time. He'll take you to that place. That's what he does. He pushes and he pushes until he's turned you into someone you never wanted to be," Berwick explained.

"No. That's you, not me. I won't be like that," Tim said firmly. He didn't care how horribly Tony treated him. He would not things get to the point where he would kidnap or kill someone because of it. He would turn his gun on himself before he let that happen.

"You think this is how I intended things to go. I was a good cop, despite what DiNozzo would like people to think. I would've done anything to gain DiNozzo's respect. But I was never going to get it. No matter how hard I tried, I never measured up. All I ever got from the bastard was name calling and blatant disrespect from that man. And because he was so respected, soon the others didn't respect me either," Berwick told him.

Tim shifted uncomfortable. "This guy's past was way too much like his present for his liking. Berwick's treatment by his colleagues reminded him a whole lot of how he was treated. He wasn't respected by Tony, and he had a feeling that was part of the reason Gibbs didn't trust him much. The only person who seemed to respect him at all out of his teammates was Kate, and who knew how long that would last if Tony had anything to say about it.

"Sounds familiar, doesn't it. This is how you're treated now, isn't it? It'll only get worse. You'll never get his respect. He'll always think he's better than you. He's got an ego the size of a mountain. He thinks he's God's gift to a government agency," Berwick said.

Tim did a double take. That was exactly what he'd said to Tony when they fought. Berwick must have heard, which meant that he probably had the room bugged. He and Tony were going to have to be more careful with what they said.

Tim then got an idea. He might be able to use all this to his advantage. He would have to be careful about it though. He would have to go slow if he wanted to be successful. It wouldn't be easy, but if could pull it off, he just might be able to get them both out of there alive.


	6. Chapter 6

Gibbs strode through the bullpen with a cup of coffee. "Give me something, Kate."

Kate cringed. She knew Gibbs wasn't going to be happy with what she had. Mostly because she had nothing. "Gibbs, I've looked over Tony and McGee's personnel files backwards and forwards. There's nothing in here that can tell us who is doing this to them."

Gibbs slammed his hand down on his desk angrily. "There has got to be something! Someone doesn't just get up one morning and decide to kidnap two federal agents for no reason."

"Well, whatever the reason is, it's not in these files," Kate said.

Just then Gibbs' phone rang. "What? Okay, we'll be right there," he said before hanging up. "Abby's got something."

Kate immediately got up and scrambled to catch up with her boss who was already at the elevator. They took the elevator down to the lab and went inside.

"What's up, Abbs?"

"Gibbs, you're not gonna believe this. This is majorly creepy," Abby said.

"What is it?" he asked again.

"Okay, so I was getting zero hits on the prints for criminals in the system. Our guy has obviously never been arrested before. Which seemed weird because this guy is obviously really good at covering up after himself. Aside from a couple of prints, we had nothing on him."

"Get to the point, Abbs," Gibbs ordered. He was in no mood for her rambling. He had two missing agents out there and he had no idea where they were or what kind of trouble they were in.

"This is part of the point, Gibbs. It occurred to me that no one could possibly be that neat without some expertise. I thought maybe our guy could have a background in military or law enforcement, so I did the search again only this time to include the police and military. This is what I came up with," Abby said as she typed on the computer. Soon a picture came up.

Kate and Gibbs approached the screen. "Detective Victor Berwick, Baltimore PD. Hey, isn't that were Tony was from?" Kate asked.

"Yeah. Nice work, Abbs. Kate, get on the phone with Baltimore PD. Find out everything you can on Berwick and any connection he might have to DiNozzo," Gibbs said. He knew there had to be some connection. This guy hadn't kidnapped him and McGee for no reason.

"On it," Kate said before heading back towards the elevator.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Two hours later, Kate was at her desk on the phone when Gibbs came over. "Okay, thank you, Detective."

"You better have something for me, Kate," Gibbs said.

Kate hung up the phone just as he said that. "Oh, do I ever. That was Baltimore on the phone. Apparently Berwick and Tony were partners."

Gibbs sighed. He wished he could say he was surprised that Tony's partner betrayed him, but he really wasn't. Tony didn't have good luck with partners. Well, not in Baltimore anyway. "What happened?

"Well, they were partnered for about six months, but the never really took to each other. Apparently Tony was more than a little vocal about his dislike of the man," Kate said.

Gibbs nodded. "Tony's always had good instincts."

Kate hesitated like she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how

Gibbs caught the look. "Something you wanna say, Kate?"

Kate sighed. "The guy I talked to said that Tony took an instant disliking to Berwick. He apparently told everyone who would listen that Berwick was too weak and soft to be on the force. It drove Berwick so nuts that he finally quit."

"Despite what Abby thinks, I'm not a mind reader, Kate. Finish it," Gibbs said. He knew she was trying to tell him something, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"It's just that I've heard Tony say the same thing about McGee on several occasions," Kate said. She had been very unnerved by the conversation she had with that detective because she saw similarities in the two partnerships. Now she didn't think that McGee would ever do what Berwick was doing, but she could see Tony's comments driving him to quit like Berwick did.

"Oh, Kate, that's just DiNozzo. He can't function properly if he's not getting on someone's nerves. You must have interpreted it wrong," Gibbs said. At least she'd better have. Tony knew better than to treat someone on the team like that. That was rule number one. You don't screw over your partner.

"No, you don't understand. I know how Tony is. I know when he's joking and when he's not. These aren't jokes. He is condescending and cruel. He means it when he says McGee doesn't belong," Kate said seriously. She'd never intended to actually say all this to Gibbs before because she thought if McGee couldn't take it he'd tell himself, but with them being kidnapped and everything, she knew she had very little choice.

"You've actually heard him say this? When?" Gibbs asked through gritted teeth.

"Well, he's made comments to that affect several times, but he out and out said it while we were at Quantico. He said that sending civilians out on the field would be more productive than sending McGee out. He said all he would ever be good for was the tech stuff," Kate told him.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me this before?" Gibbs asked angrily. He was quite frankly ready to kill someone. He knew that Tony had a twisted sense of humor, but this was out and cruelty and arrogance, something Tony knew better than to practice on his team. He and Tony would be having a little chat when he and McGee got back.

"I thought that I should let McGee handle it his way. But now it is glaringly obvious that this is the reason they were taken. The similarities between Berwick and McGee are clear. I think he sees himself in McGee," Kate said.

Gibbs nodded, immediately seeing her line of thinking. "He's playing a game with them. He wants to see if he can turn McGee into him. Alright, I want you to find out everything that Berwick's done from the time he left Baltimore PD. We need to get as much information as possible."

Kate nodded and immediately picked up her phone while Gibbs headed for the elevator.


End file.
